The Declaration of Independence, 2003

Robert
Greenslade
April 11, 2003

In a Convention of
Sovereign States, July 4, 2003The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of
America

In the Course of securing Liberty and establishing the
Republic, our Forefathers Dissolved all allegiance to the British Crown
and declared the American Colonies to be free and independent States.
This separation from the mother country Transformed the newly
established States into separate Sovereign political entities. That in
order to Preserve their freedom and independence, the several States
found it necessary to Unite for their common defense.

That in 1791, the thirteen united States, Severally,
entered into a league of friendship with each other for their common
defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general
welfare called the Articles of Confederation. Under
this Compact, each state retained its Sovereignty, freedom, and
independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which was not
expressly Delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. This
limited Confederation did not consolidate the thirteen united States or
their People into one nation.

That in 1787, twelve of the thirteen united States,
Severally, sent delegates to a Federal [Constitutional] Convention for
the sole and express purpose of Revising the federal system of
government established by the Articles of Confederation.
The delegates drafted a new Compact between the several States called The
Constitution for the United States of America. When adopted
by the several States in 1788, this Compact did not abolish the federal
system of government established by the Articles of
Confederation or consolidate the thirteen united States or
their People into one nation.

That in ratifying the Constitution for the
United States, the several States created a common agent
called the federal government. They empowered their agent with the
authority to perform Limited enumerated functions that would be
difficult or impossible for the States to perform individually. Under
the terms of this Compact, every power not Delegated by the principles
to the agent was Retained by the States or the People.

That the government created by the several States was
Delegated limited enumerated powers, which, in the words of Alexander
Hamilton, operate on the several States "in their united or
collective capacity." None of the general powers Delegated to
the federal government were to operate directly on the American people
because they are not a party to the Compact between the several States
as enumerated in Article VII of our Constitution.

That the constitutional delineation of power between the
federal and state governments, which is the Foundation of our
Constitution, was stated in no uncertain terms by James Madison: [t]he
powers delegated…to the federal government are few and defined. Those
which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and
indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external
objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which
last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The
powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects
which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties,
and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement, and
prosperity of the State. The operations of the federal government will
be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of
the State governments in times of peace and security.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that the
federal government has refused to stay within the Confines of its
constitutionally Delegated powers. That the federal government created
by the Compact between the several States is exercising powers Not
granted and attempting to consolidate the Sovereign American States
into one nation. That a consolidation of Sovereign States, controlled
exclusively by political parties, would institute a form of government
Foreign to our Constitution and rejected by our Forefathers. That
whenever the federal government becomes destructive of the ends for
which it was established, it is the Right of the States, as the
exclusive parties to the contract between themselves, to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence,
indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience
hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which
they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them
under the absolute Despotism of a central government controlled
exclusively by political parties, it is their Right, it is their Duty,
to throw off such government, and to provide new Guards for their
future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of the People of
the several States and such is now the necessity which requires them to
Command their agent, the state governments, to alter, abolish or reform
the federal government established by the individual States. The recent
history of the federal government is a history of Repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an
absolute Tyranny over these Sovereign States and their People. To prove
this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The federal government has declared itself to be supreme
and above the several States.

The federal government has abdicated its constitutional
function as the agent of the States and declared itself to be a party
to the Compact between the several States.

The federal government has made judges dependent on the
Will of political parties alone, for their appointment to office and
the amount of payment of their salaries.

The federal government has rendered the judiciary
superior to the Sovereign powers of the States and the natural Rights
of the People.

The federal government has authorized the judiciary to
alter our Constitution without resorting to the amendment process
Required by the express terms of the Compact.

The federal government has claimed a power Not
enumerated in our Constitution to define the extent of the powers
delegated to itself.

The federal government has radically Expanded its power
through convoluted interpretations of various clauses of our
Constitution when the intent of our Forefathers is easily
ascertainable.

The federal government has Plundered the wealth of our
States and left them unable to fulfill their constitutional
obligations.

The federal government has used a Perversion of the
Commerce Clause of our Constitution to disarm the People of the several
States under color of law.

The federal government has Subjected our citizens to
death and bodily harm in foreign countries without a formal Declaration
of War as required by our Constitution.

The federal government has, under color of law, enacted
laws with the stated purpose of bringing the People of the several
States under its direct control when No such power is granted by our
Constitution.

The federal government has used a Perversion of the
Commerce Clause of our Constitution to exercise regulatory control over
every aspect of human existence within the several States.

The federal government has used a Perversion of the
General Welfare Clause of our Constitution to tax and appropriate money
from our People to fund programs Not authorized by our Constitution.

The federal government has, under color of law,
Compelled our citizens to appear before its legislative tribunal to be
interrogated on matters Not within the scope of its delegated powers
under threat of fine and imprisonment.

The federal government has used a Perversion of the
Commerce Clause of our Constitution erect so-called civil Rights
statutes when the constitutional duty of securing the Rights of the
People was Reserved to the States.

The federal government has Erected a multitude of new
offices, and sent hither swarms of revenue officers and bureaucrats to
harass our people and eat out their substance.

The federal government has sent census workers into the
several States to Invade the privacy of the People and inquire into
their private affairs under threat of fine.

The federal government has Perverted various clauses of
our Constitution to legitimize the theft of our land.

The federal government has Given itself a new power of
taxation Not authorized by our Constitution and Contrary to the intent
of an Amendment to our Constitution.

The federal government has, under legislation Not
authorized by our Constitution, Invaded the boundaries of our States to
commandeer the education of our children.

The federal government has combined with other nations
to subject the people of these States to jurisdiction foreign to our
Constitution through pretended treaties unacknowledged by our laws;
giving its Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.

For quartering large bodies of armed federal employees
among us when No general police power was delegated to that government
by our Constitution:

For protecting them, from punishment for any
transgressions which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these
States under color of law:

For compelling our citizens, under threat of fine and
imprisonment, to participate in a tax and welfare scheme masquerading
as a retirement program when No such power is granted by our
Constitution:

For using so-called war powers to Deprive citizens of
the benefits of Trial by Jury when no Declaration of War has been
formally declared as Required by our Constitution:

For transporting our citizens to federal courts to be
tried for Pretended offenses enacted under a Perversion of the Commerce
Clause of our Constitution:

For incurring debts Not authorized by our Constitution:

For imposing Taxes on us Without our Consent for the
purpose of befriending foreign powers and potentates when No such power
is granted by our Constitution:

For invading the privacy of our People under the
illusion of securing public safety when that duty was Reserved to the
several States:

For subjecting our People to jurisdiction Foreign to the
common law:

For abdicating its constitutional responsibility to coin
money and regulate the value thereof by transferring this function to a
private banking consortium called the Federal Reserve:

For elevating the office of the president to a position
of prominence Not envisioned by our Forefathers and Foreign to our
Constitution.

For abusing the legislative process by
unconstitutionally bestowing powers on the office of the president
Contrary to the amendment process of our Constitution:

The federal government has used a Perversion of the
Commerce Clause of our Constitution to enact a multitude of criminal
statutes Not authorized by our Constitution.

The federal government has Assumed the power to
legislate concerning the Rights enumerated in our Bill of Rights when
the stated purposed of the Amendments contained therein was to Restrict
the powers of the federal government.

The federal government has Rendered its law enforcement
agencies independent of and superior to the Civil Power of the several
States.

The federal government has Assumed the power to invoke
so-called emergency powers when No such power is enumerated in our
Constitution.

The federal government has used a Perversion of the
General Welfare and Commerce Clauses to render the Tenth Amendment to
our Constitution null and void.

The federal government has declared the People of these
united States potential domestic enemies if they express a fidelity to
our Constitution.

In every stage of these Oppressions and Usurpations of
power We have petitioned for redress in the most humble and peaceful
terms:

Our repeated requests that the federal government stay
within bounds of its constitutionally Delegated powers have been
answered only by repeated injury and usurpations. A federal government,
whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a
Tyrannical government, is unfit to be the common agent of a Union of
Sovereign States.

We, therefore, the people of the
united States of America, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, of the good
People of these united States, solemnly publish and declare, That these
united States, as free and Independent States; are
Absolved from all undue submission to their federal government, and
that all political connection between them and their federal
government, will be totally dissolved if that government does not
return to its constitutionally limited powers; and that as Free and
Independent States, they will have full Power to levy War, conclude
Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts
and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the
support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Please
note: This re-write of the original
Declaration of Independence is for educational purposes only and not
meant to promote or encourage the commission of an unlawful act.

Robert Greenslade focuses his writing on issues
surrounding the federal government and the Constitution. He believes
politicians at the federal level, through ignorance or design, are
systematically dismantling the Constitution in an effort to expand
their power and consolidate control over the American people. He has
dedicated himself to resurrecting the true intent of the Constitution
in the hope that the information will contribute, in some small way, to
restoring the system of limited government established by the
Constitution.